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Saturday, September 22, 2012

things aren't always what they seem

Sometimes trauma sneaks up on you. Somebody arrives by ambulance. It seems fairly straightforward. Blah blah blah. No big deal. Then it becomes more complicated. What seemed simple is now much more involved than originally thought.
Tests are ordered. More fractures are found that didn't seem obvious at first. Suddenly its a whole new ball game. This person is severely injured.
Most people would be yelling in this situation, but not this one. They refuse pain meds, stating that if they don't move they are fine. I don't usually encourage pain meds, but I tell them its OK to take them. They still refuse. Wow.
I know that this person, with the extent of their injuries will have months of recovery. They may never be the same. Their life has changed.
What started out as a beautiful sunny day for them, enjoying themselves, has morphed into tragedy.

3 comments:

In a millisecond all changes for some. Tragic, far-reaching events leave huge holes where lives used to be... Working the desk in the ER taught me that a few decades back-it's all so tenuous. Be Here Now.

The pediatric version of trauma sneaking up on you: altered child (usually an infant) brought in, family seems legit, kid gets a sepsis workup...and somewhere along the way, via a CXR or maybe a seizure that prompts a CT scan, much more ominous injuries are found. Ribs are fractured on the CXR. Bleeds are found on the CT scan.